ADL official: Jewish Diaspora communities are strong despite their fears

Cnaan Lidor is The Times of Israel's Jewish World reporter

Demonstrators stage a pro-Israel rally in front of the Beth Avraham Yoseph synagogue in Toronto, Canada on March 8, 2024. (Courtesy: BAYT)
Demonstrators stage a pro-Israel rally in front of the Beth Avraham Yoseph synagogue in Toronto, Canada on March 8, 2024. (Courtesy: BAYT)

Mobilization for Israel in Jewish Diaspora communities shows that they are strong and vibrant despite concerns for their long-term future, a top executive of the Anti-Defamation says.

Marina G. Rosenberg, the ADL’s vice president for International Affairs, says this in an interview with The Times of Israel following a massive rally in support of Israel on Sunday in Toronto, Canada by tens of thousands of participants.

“Yes, there’s concern and there’s fear but Jewish communities are very strong. Jews are going out to the streets in their thousands — in Toronto this weekend, in New York last weekend — in support of Israel and the hostages’ families. People are still having Jewish lives in most parts of the world,” says Rosenberg.

The ADL is among multiple Jewish groups on record as expressing concern for the future of Diaspora Jewry, or its “ability to lead Jewish lives in the West,” as ADL’s annual report for 2024 states.

Buoyed by the rescue of four Israeli hostages in Gaza, the Toronto march had 50,000 participants, organizers at the Jewish Federations of Canada–UIA say — the annual event’s highest turnout in 55 years, according to the organizers.

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